Fogbound
by Nina Ridgmont
Summary: Part 2 of the Whirlwind series. Disaster was narrowly averted in Casino Night and things are back to normal. But weird dreams are haunting Ryan and he is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery - and find out what it has to do with Danica (OC). P.S. to Office fans: I promise this one has more Office stuff.
1. Chapter 1

_Ryan was kissing Danica outside in a hazy alley. The haze was too thick for Ryan to recognize any nearby buildings. If he were in a mind to think about these things, he would have thought they were by the Dunder Mifflin office complex, except it was night and Ryan could not fathom why anyone would choose Dunder Mifflin as a setting for a makeout. _

_As it was, he focused on Danica. Her pale skin felt cool to his touch. His fingertips brushed against the back of her neck, which was smooth except for a small ridged scar. Danica cupped his hand in hers and led it away from the scar. They never broke the kiss. _

_Kelly's crying seeped in the background. Ryan tried to ignore it. The intensity of Danica's kisses waned. Ryan's too; he could not recapture the mood. His pulse slowed, and the world around him filtered in. _

_The cries turned into screams._

_Danica disappeared. Ryan was compelled to follow, as Kelly's screams had grown louder and more desperate. He knew Kelly's penchance for melodrama, but this felt entirely different from the tricks she pulled in the past. Something might really be wrong. _

_He saw Kelly pinned against a pale man. The man's red eyes gleamed as he fixed his mouth to Kelly's neck. _

_Then he shattered._

_Kelly fell to the ground._

_Danica reappeared, leaning over her. _

"_Promise you won't freak out?" Danica said. It took Ryan a moment to realize she was speaking to him. _

_She lowered her head to Kelly's shoulder, over the glassy wound the red-eyed man left on her neck. Her eyes blackened . . ._

Ryan opened his eyes. His bedroom came into focus slowly; for a minute longer, he was still anchored to the dark street in his dream. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, down onto the bed where he and Kelly lay.

"Are you okay?" Kelly chirped, turning over onto her side to face him. She lightly massaged his arm.

"Sure," he answered through shallow breaths. His lungs ached, as if they had compressed all the air out of him. Air did not seem so necessary a few minutes ago. He repeated, "Sure."

"You were really thrashing around. Were you having another nightmare?"

The fact that she knew he had had other dreams like this one disconcerted him. "No," he denied. "Not really." Shrugging Kelly's hand off him, he got up and stumbled to the bathroom.

He caught his reflection in the mirror, and he barely recognized himself. The tan he had worked on all summer had faded and dark blotches lined his eyes. How did he get so blurry and vague? Everything in the dream was outlined so sharply.

"Babe?" Kelly called through the door. "Are you sure you're all right?'

"Yeah." Ryan turned on the faucet, to legitimize the use of the bathroom. A couple of quick splashes of tap water erased the deathly dark circles.

"You're not slitting your wrists or anything, right?"

That snapped him out of the lingering effects of the dream. "For a dream? Are you kidding?"

"Will you come out here so I can see you?"

And make sure he wasn't bleeding to death, Ryan thought wryly. He was not particularly surprised that she arrived at that conclusion, just because he went into the bathroom without her. Kelly could spin the wildest dramas out of the tiniest things.

He stepped back to the door and flung it open.

Kelly lunged against him, locking him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry. I was overreacting again," she moaned. "It's just that you get so depressed when you have those dreams."

"They're only dreams, Kelly," Ryan said. With the sun shining brightly and Kelly - his girlfriend - in front of him, he nearly believed it.

He stroked the back of her head. His fingers parted through her long hair and smoothed over the rough scar on her neck. Somehow Kelly's scar had embedded into his dream. Though he had kissed Danica once - or was it twice? - he had never gotten close enough to her to explore his other coworker's neck.

"It's still there," he observed out loud.

He had dwelled on the mystery of the scar for quite some time. Kelly had gotten it recently: she had not had it when they first slept together. But Kelly could not remember what had caused it.

Kelly retreated a couple of steps, cupping her hand over her neck. "I know. It's ugly," she whined. "And I'll probably have it for the rest of my life. And you'll never want to see me, and . . ."

She would go on like this, but Ryan planted another kiss on her lips to silence her.

"You're beautiful," he told her, now that he had a chance to get in a word. "And a microscopic-sized scar would not make me want to stop seeing you."

Kelly nodded teary-eyed. "Oh, Ryan . . ." she gushed.

Fogbound

Ryan drove to work with Kelly.

Kelly had fibbed to her parents about where she was spending the night. She told them that she and her friend Danica were spending the night at another coworker's home. Poor Pam Beesly was all disconsolate after her wedding was called off, and Kelly and Danica were keeping her company.

Ryan knew about the subterfuge, as did Danica, and Pam, and Kelly's sister Laura. Kelly groaned in embarrassment as she remembered when she first formulated the excuse. A twenty-five year old woman, with a successful, full time job, should not need to lie to her parents about where she spent the night. That was almost three months ago.

She and Ryan had one more parting kiss, then she skipped up to the annex. Danica was due back today from another holiday with her foster family, and Kelly wanted to hear everything about it.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a lot about the trip that Kelly would not learn.

The Volturi had heard a rumor that Edward and his newly-turned bride Bella had created a child vampire. The child vampire was actually a half-breed, conceived when Bella was still human. Edward had turned her after she almost died giving birth. But Alec, and the Volturi, had not known that at the time, and the whole band of them had set off for Forks to kill the Cullens.

"It's as if you want humans to band together and slaughter us into nonexistence," Alec had complained.

Alec had been going to fight in Forks with his sister Jane and the rest of the Volturi. He stopped at Danica's apartment first to warn her, knowing fully well she would be fighting on the opposite side. He also knew that Danica had already lost one family in her human years, and it would destroy her to lose another.

"You should know the peril your family is in and make your allegiances accordingly," Alec had said. "And if you do fight, I do not promise that I won't kill you."

"And I can't promise I won't kill you," Danica had returned, sealing their professional pact.

There was no battle. The Cullens were able to prove that their child was not a turned vampire. The only casualty of that day had been Irina, one of the three sisters who had raised Danica in her vampire incarnation. Irina had reported to the Volturi about the vampire child and started the whole mess. The Volturi had executed her for her false report.

Poor Irina. The girl had been inconsolable since the death of her mate Laurent. She had blamed the Cullens for Laurent's death, up until the end.

The first thing when Danica stepped into the office, Angela from Accounting had shoved a payroll form in her face. Danica had to sign another sheet confirming that this vacation was unpaid time off, because she had already used up her vacation days for "a silly wedding."

"Why did you even bother moving here if you go rushing back to them every time they get a paper cut?" Angela vented.

"You're absolutely right," Danica answered. "I'll tell them not to incur any life threatening injuries from now on."

While Michael or Dwight might have fallen for her mock sincerity, Angela recognized the insult. She puffed up her chest and marched away.

Then Michael summoned her to his office.

"You're fired," Michael told Danica.

Danica sat in front of his desk. She rested her hands on her knees.

"What?" Danica asked.

Michael issued a heavy sigh as he leaned forward in his plush boss's chair. He laced his fingers together.

"You took too many vacation days."

"You mean my unpaid time off for a family emergency?" Danica retorted. "You approved of those days off. If it was going to be a problem, why didn't you just say so?"

"That's irregardless," Michael answered, supplying one of his usual malapropisms. "It looks bad to have an employee miss so much work. So I have no choice but to ask you to leave. Besides," he added, "we all know what you were really doing on your time off."

"What was I doing?" Michael could not possibly know about the looming battle that had called her away. Nevertheless, Danica tensed with worry.

"You were . . . you were . . ." A smile cracked through Michael's stern expression. "You were auditioning in a porn movie."

He collapsed onto his desk top, his shoulders heaving with laughter.

"Is this a fake firing?" Danica asked. She recalled a clip from the show, which she was not supposed to have seen. Michael had pretended to fire an employee, just to get a reaction.

Michael pushed himself back upright. Tears streamed down his cheeks, he was laughing so hard.

"Yes," he gasped. "You should have seen your face. You were all like . . ." Another burst of laughter prevented him from revealing to Danica what she was "all like."

"Are you finished?" Danica asked. "Because I'd like to get to work."

Michael nodded his acquiescence, then collapsed when he was once again overcome with laughter.

Danica stood up and stalked back to the annex, where Kelly had already settled.

"How was Alaska?" Kelly asked, jumping in her seat with excitement.

Danica lied. "Fine."


	3. Chapter 3

Ryan had to endure Pam's constant staring in his direction.

Ryan had been promoted when Jim Halpert transferred to Stamford. Sales did not come naturally to him, and cold calls were the worst. Trying to beg the interest of people who had no need of Dunder Mifflin paper and who, if they needed paper, would probably acquire a supply some other way than waiting for some rookie to call them and rattle off a speech about why Dunder-Mifflin was so great.

Unfortunately, sales was the highest ranking job one could get in this place, except for manager, and you could not get manager unless you had sales experience.

Pam stared over at him again, with that same kicked-dog expression she wore ever since her wedding was canceled. Ryan did not think she was staring at him, per se. Her eyes were too blank for that. Ryan pivoted his head to the side, looking at the wall where Creed and Meredith sat, but he did not see anything noteworthy there, either. He spun his chair further around.

Michael was talking to Oscar Martinez. He was apologizing, about . . . what? Calling Oscar gay when he was? The logic would only make sense to Michael.

Finally Ryan had an excuse to get away from his blank desk and silent phone. He headed for the annex.

Kelly was chattering to Danica about everything that happened while Danica was away in Alaska. Danica looked like she could use a break too. Because, honestly, as much as Ryan loved Kelly, sometimes she could overwhelm him with chatter.

"Did you know Oscar is gay?" he posed to Kelly.

"No!" Kelly said. "Really? He never said a word about it to me."

That's a surprise, Ryan thought. "I guess he wanted to keep it a secret or something," he reasoned. "But since Michael knows, it's not really a secret anymore."

"Michael found out before me?" Kelly screeched.

"Uh-oh," Danica murmured in sympathy. She did not need supertalents to know that Michael would spend the rest of the day trying to demonstrate political correctness about homosexuality while trying to prove he himself was too masculine to be gay.

Kelly stood up. "I'm going to find Oscar right now and let him know we're supportive."

"Maybe we should wait," Danica said, "until Oscar brings it up."

"But everyone already knows. Better to clear the air right away." Kelly strutted off.

Toby Flinderson, the other occupant of the annex, cleared his throat. "Guys, could I ask you - and could you ask Kelly - to show a little more discretion about Oscar's sexuality? He did not choose to have it known to the office and I think we should try to respect his privacy."

"Michael's probably the one you want to speak to," Ryan pointed out.

"I've already spoken to him. But the way you and the other coworkers react can also negatively impact the work office and we cannot afford a lawsuit."

"Sure," Danica said. She was unruffled by this news, anyway.

"Sure," Ryan echoed.

Kelly swept back in.

"You're back already," Toby observed.

"Of course. How long did you think it would take? I just told him that it was cool that he came out."

"The thing is, Kelly, he didn't . . ." Toby repeated his warnings to her.

"Well, duh. Of course I won't make a big deal about it. Did you talk about this to Michael yet? Because he wants to have a meeting about it."

"Christ." Toby dashed to the main office.

"**My cousin just died last week." Danica confides to the camera, "So why the hell would I care about this? It's Oscar's business, not mine."**

Toby failed to persuade Michael to cancel the meeting.

Ryan did not sit with Danica and Kelly. He sat towards the front of the door by Pam. When Michael began his presentation, Pam bowed her head towards him, as if to share a laugh, but Ryan only returned with a puzzled look.

"She's losing it," Kelly whispered. "She's been acting strange ever since she called off the wedding."

_Or since Jim moved away_, Danica acknowledged.

"We've got to bump her up on the blind date registry," Kelly decided, referring to her own system of fixing up her friends with their future soulmates. "Sorry, Danica, but she needs it more."

"No problem," Danica whispered. Danica was hardly the most enthusiastic date.

They paused as Oscar reluctantly admitted he was gay, probably hoping that that would be the end of it. Not even close, as Michael and Dwight made it their mission to uncover all the other office gays.

"Danica," Michael named.

"What?"

"You turned down Jim, right?"

Pam's head shot up. She gaped at Danica in shock. So did Ryan.

"He never asked me out," Danica answered evenly. "So, no."

"But if he did, would you have said yes?" Michael asked.

"That's not your business."

"What does that mean?" Michael whined.

"What does it matter? He didn't ask me out."

Her refusal to answer went nowhere, so Michael moved on with his accusations to Phyllis, who distracted the others by announcing her engagement to Bob Vance. The meeting continued on, fostering more awkwardness and absurdity. When Oscar finally said he did not think he could work in this office anymore, it came to no one's surprise but Michael's.


	4. Chapter 4

_What did she mean by "That's not your business?"_

Ryan mulled over this question as he refilled his coffee. Danica entered the break room, maneuvering around him to get to the refrigerator. Then Michael made his usual timely entrance. When she became aware of his leering at her, she grabbed a bottle of her special cranberry juice and retreated to the annex.

Understandably, Danica would not give an answer at the meeting: not while Michael was behaving like a dumb ox, trampling over everyone else's privacy and emotional stability because he needed to know. Whatever the answer, it was not Michael's business - or Ryan's. Nevertheless, Danica's untranslated statement refused to budge from Ryan's conscious mind.

"When Danica said it's not my business," Michael echoed, as he hovered over the counter of the breakroom, "what do you think she meant?"

"That it's not your business?" Ryan answered clumsily.

Michael aimed an amused look at the camera. _Ryan is so naive_, he seemed to express.

"Do you think she meant it's not your business as in she's wildly in love with Jim, or it's not your business as in she's not wildly in love with Jim because she's a lesbian?"

"Or," Ryan started to speak. "Or there's another reason."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

Ryan did not want to explain his unfurling thoughts to Michael. Damnit, he was not the type who was always ready with a clever retort. "Uh . . ."

"I know. You could go and ask her out, and if she says no, it proves she's a lesbian."

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

This time Ryan did have a quick answer. "I'm seeing Kelly."

"Well you don't have to go out with her. You just have to ask her," Michael persisted. "Though if I were you, I'd rather go out with Danica than Kelly. Especially if she was a lesbian. Scha-wing. _Wayne's World_" he added for the benefit of their audience.

"Don't you think you've caused enough trouble today?" Ryan said clippedly. He slammed down the empty coffeepot. "Or is one employee threatening to quit not serious enough for you to rethink your behavior?"

"Geez, don't get your balls in a twist," Michael said, with a nervous laugh.

Ryan strode back to his desk. He was disgusted with Michael and disgusted with himself for thinking along the same lines.

_She turned him down. She possibly turned Jim down. She resists all of Kelly's attempts to fix her up with a male friend. She doesn't hang around Kelly and me when we're together. For such a small girl, she's pretty strong . . . _

All of that culminated to weak evidence. The biggest clue, the one that rankled the most, was that he kissed her and she turned him away.

Ryan had always been fairly successful at getting the girl he wanted. He was pleasing to the eye, well-educated, sensitive (but not too sensitive), adequately employed. There was no reason why he should repel Danica.

His fidgeting caught Dwight's attention.

"Do you have something to you need to confess?" Dwight asked, assuming his police-deputy-turned-security-officer expression.

"No." Ryan rummaged through his desk until he found his call list. He made a big show of studying it.

"Just wait until Jim's gay-dar arrives," Dwight threatened. "Then I'll find out everything you're not confessing."

"Fine."

Apparently that was not the reaction Dwight wanted. He clenched his jaw and pounded away on his keyboard.

After work, Ryan dropped Kelly off at her house, then, on impulse, he swung his car back to Dunder Mifflin.

Danica often stayed later than most employees; she told Kelly it was because she got better Internet service in the office than at home, which struck Ryan as a pitiful excuse, but Michael allowed it because she replied to some of his less salacious email forwards. Ryan wondered what she was really doing after hours.

She was alone in the annex, reading the _Not Always Right _website. When Ryan entered, she looked up. "Oh, hey."

"Hey," Ryan said, then launched into his question. "If you're a lesbian, why didn't you just say so?"

"What?" Danica's breath rippled out, carrying a strange laugh with it. She might have been more indignant, but she could guess the source of Ryan's conclusion. She had already had a similar talk with Pam, thanks to Michael's dragging her personal life into today's meeting.

Ryan slapped his hand against his forehead. "Okay, let's start over."

"Okay." Danica drew her hands from the keyboard and swiveled to him.

"Are you a lesbian?"

"No."

Ryan expected more from this conversation. But for such a straightforward answer, it did not explain anything.

"Why didn't you say so at the meeting?" Ryan grappled.

"Because I wasn't going to play Michael's game."

"Then what is going on?" Ryan asked. Why couldn't he make himself shut up? He was sounding as obnoxious as Kelly with the incessant questions crowding in his mouth.

Danica lightly kicked at the table leg. For a moment, Ryan thought she would put forth the "not your business" defense. Finally she said, "The truth? I don't want to date because I have some personal demons to work through, and I don't think I should be in a relationship until I do."

_That was it?_ Ryan had the nagging suspicion that there was more, but he had regained control of his head. Personal demons could cover a lot of different areas that Danica would not want to discuss with him at this point. So instead, he conceded, "That sounds reasonable, I guess."

"Okay."

"Sorry," he offered belatedly. "I'll see you later."

"See you."

**Ryan stops by the camera room. "I'm glad today's over. Michael's thinking can be like a contagious virus infecting everyone who comes within his radius. Anyone that spends any amount of time in this building catches it and becomes insane."**

**He pauses, as if realizing how ridiculous his theory sounds. "That's the best I can explain it," he adds. **


	5. Chapter 5

The next evening, a waxing moon lit concrete building and the parking lot that served as the production studio for The Office. Alec sprang over the chain link fence and then prowled through the hodgepodge of vans and trailers inhabiting the parking lot. He found the designated trailer number and knocked on the door.

Gita Banerjee parted open the door, stooping to a kneel when she saw it was Alec. "Buona notte, signore," she greeted. Even in this modern setting, with the computers and cameras in view, she had not forgotten her deference.

Alec stepped in when she backed towards her station. Three television screens displayed the interior of Dunder-Mifflin. The footage played on the center screen with the office at a slow moment of the day: the image centered on Dwight as he made a sales call. The other two screens had paused.

"I found a questionable scene," Gita reported. She resumed the left-hand screen, which showed Danica alone at her desk, idling on the computer.

"How questionable?" Alec asked. If his heart still beat, it would have raced at a supersonic speed. What trouble has Danica caused now?

"Nothing overtly dangerous," Gita said. She played the tape, then thumbed a dial to jack up the volume.

Ryan barged in, after he was supposed to have left for the day. Then he accused Danica of hiding her lesbian proclivities from him. Danica calmly denied it. Instead she alluded vaguely to "personal demons."

Gita stopped the recording after Danica uttered that phrase.

Alec did not see anything particularly risky. "Play it again," he ordered. Gita replayed it, but still he found nothing the Volturi should object to.

Finally, he asked, "What is the trouble exactly?"

"'Personal demons, signore,'" Gita recited, unemotional in her identifying the problem. "As I said, it is not overtly risky. Nonetheless, she might have tried to insert a hint about us."

"Not necessarily. It is an English language figure of speech used commonly by humans," Alec reasoned, though already he second-guessed his defense for her.

"Would the Volturi allow it?" Gita asked. "Even if it is a figure of speech?"

Alec shook his head. No, Danica would not be so reckless as to hint at the existence of vampires.

Unless she was not aware she was being recorded. And the hint was meant only for Ryan.

Alec recalled how devastated Danica was when he explained how Gita had erased Ryan's and Kelly's memories of that night. No matter that Alec had not meant to hurt them: on the contrary, Gita's mind-wipe had spared the humans' lives. With that sensitive knowledge gone, they posed no threat to the Volturi.

If so, it was a foolish move. Ryan's memory of her revelation had been wiped out, and no clumsy figure of speech would enable Ryan to regain it.

"Excise the recording," he ordered to Gita. "But we needn't alert Aro about this. We are not so paranoid that we would take metaphorical phrases as threats. I will talk to Danica about this, instruct her to mind her language."

Gita pursed her lips wistfully. "I would have liked to include this in the show. It would have provided closure to Ryan and Danica's short-lived romance."

"Your audience will have to live without their closure," Alec commented as Gita erased the footage.

Kelly worked fast; she had found a date for Pam. She had chosen one of Danica's cast-offs.

"Alan," Danica had protested. "He's kind of boring."

"So is Pam," Kelly reasoned. "So he'll suit her fine."

Which gave Danica a momentary identity crisis. Kelly saw fit to set her up with Alan; did that mean she was boring?

**"I am not boring," Danica rants to the camera. "Didn't I move here all by myself? Didn't I go with Kelly and Ryan and their friends to that club in Philadelphia? Of course, I didn't drink, because I was the designated driver. And I didn't hook up with anyone. But I did dance." Her mouth drops open in horror. "To Alanis Morissette."**

The day of, Kelly and Danica stopped by Pam's desk.

"So?" Kelly squealed. "Are you excited about the date tonight?"

Pam nodded. That she did not look terribly thrilled, Danica suspected, Kelly dismissed as Pam being quiet and boring Pam.

**"Yes I have a date," Pam tells the camera. "He's a cartoonist for the local paper, which is kind of cool, because I like to draw, too. I'm kind of nervous. I have not had a first date in . . . nine years. I probably shouldn't broadcast that."**

"It's great that you're doing this," Danica offered, twisting a gold chain around her neck as she talked. "Venturing into the unknown."

"If you want, you can come," Kelly suggested. Clapping her hands together and rubbing them in the universal scheming gesture, she brainstormed out loud. "We could make it a triple date. You could bring your hot cousin along."

"Kelly, no." Danica jerked her head back and forth. Kelly understood what she meant; this was supposed to be about poor, husbandless Pam. Plus it might be awkward, as Kelly never told Pam that she set Alan up with Danica first. Dutifully, Kelly turned her attention back on Pam.

"So what are you wearing?" she asked.

Pam glanced down at her blue blouse and cardigan set. "This."

"Oh," Kelly and Danica chorused together. Pam's outfit was a little dowdy and off color; okay for the office but not very flattering. Danica imagined that Alice would have an aneurysm if she ever caught one of her family wearing what Pam was wearing.

Kelly decided to move onto more important points. "Now remember, no matter how much you want to, do not sleep with him on the first date. It gives him all the power."

"She's not going to want to," Danica said off-hand.

"Shut up, Danica. You're not helping."

Then Michael interrupted. He and Dwight crossed by the reception desk, hefting their luggage for the big convention in Philadelphia. Kelly explained about the blind date between Pam and Alan.

"You know what would be hilarious?" Michael erupted with a chortle, "is if you wore your wedding dress."

"And your veil," Dwight added. Michael and Dwight bent forward, overcome with laughter at their own joke. Dwight slapped Michael's shoulder.

The women stared them down.

"Actually, I'll be wearing this," Pam said once their laughter died down.

"Oh." Michael regained control of his crass humor, but threw in a suggestion that she unbutton the top button and "let those things breathe."

They strutted out, trumpeting the "message" that they obtained from Pam to Jim: "Um! Um! Um!"

After work, while Kelly prepared for the double date, Danica enlisted Laura's help in finding ways to become less boring.

Laura hadn't a clue. "Extreme sports," she offered, as she adeptly shuffled the cards and then dealt them out for a round of gin rummy.

"Any you recommend?" Cliff diving came to mind, but considering all the drama that episode had caused for the Cullens, Danica would rather avoid it. Besides, there were no cliffs in Scranton.

"The only things I can think of are skydiving and bungee jumping," Laura replied.

"Hmm." Danica examined her cards. "Bungee jumping would be less expensive."

Laura concentrated on her card, then selected one to discard. "Too bad Kelly and I would never be allowed to do that," she commented. "Mom and Dad have been panicky about bridges ever since Maggie died."

"Who's Maggie?"

"Our sister. She died in a car accident. Are you going to go?"

Danica hurriedly thrust out a card and retrieved a new one.

Kelly stomped into the room. "Did you take my eyeshadow?" she shrieked.

"Tammi was playing with it, but I told her to put it back," Laura said, in the same detached tone she used to mention her sister's death. But when Laura was playing cards, or any other game, everything else stayed out of her mind.

"Well, she didn't." Kelly banged at the door and screamed at Tammi. Then Mrs. Kapoor interrupted in Hindi, likely to admonish Kelly for screaming at her sister. Kelly and her mother argued in Hindi for several more minutes, until Kelly stomped away defeated.

That argument, in which neither Danica nor Laura had any part, derailed any natural progression in the conversation about Kelly's dead sister. Laura declared gin.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryan judged, by the lack of buffoonery that he had come to accept as his life, that the double date was going reasonably well.

Kelly did most of the talking. As she babbled about how much Pam loved Alan's cartoons, she crammed French fries into Ryan's mouth.

She paused from force-feeding him long enough to drag a fry through the ketchup. "No ketchup," he protested, raising his hand up to block the ketchup-sodden fry from his face.

"You love ketchup." Kelly argued. "He loves ketchup."

Ryan used to love ketchup. Lately he had found it nauseating. When he thought of ketchup, he thought of Kelly opening that glassy scar on her neck and bleeding all over his food. Probably something that happened in one of his strange dreams.

Kelly lowered the fry back to the tray. Meanwhile, Pam tried to strike up her own conversation with Alan about his art. Ryan had no opinion of Alan as a person; his impression was neither positive nor negative. Alan's cartoons, however, were extremely dull.

The back of Ryan's neck prickled. As Alan labored at explaining how his genius worked, Ryan glanced around him.

No one was staring at him, but one particular customer drew his attention. A blonde woman sat alone at a table by the door. She was chatting on the cell phone, and, as Ryan reiterated to himself, not paying the slightest attention to him.

There was something odd about her. He took another peek. The basket of stuffed vegetables that remained untouched in front of her, as did the glass of water. And the woman's appearance raised some suspicions: she dressed too stylishly, her skin was too pale, and her eyes were an odd caramel color that matched exactly to Danica's eyes. Her elegant pose conveyed a predatory aura, though nothing about what she did was particularly menacing.

"What do you think, Ryan?" Kelly asked.

Ryan whirled back to face his dinner table. "Sorry, what?" Then he saw the penciled sketch on Alan's pad of paper. Freedom fries. Topical.

"Freedom fries, right?" Alan said, in sheepish modesty.

"Oh yeah. Freedom fries," Ryan commented.

Kelly laced her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. Alan continued to explain his art techniques in excruciating detail to Pam. Ryan kept his eyes on the sketchpad, and his focus away from the predatory woman.

Danica toted in a bag of groceries. She climbed the steps, only to find Tanya standing at her apartment door.

"About time you showed up," Tanya grinned.

"Hey." Danica hugged her foster sister. "Come on in."

She opened the door and Tanya stepped in after her, examining the decor. "Not bad," she said. "A little bare, but not bad. Were you expecting company?"

"No," Danica said as she unpacked the carrots and flour from the bag. "Well, Alec'll be checking in," she added, but she did not deem him company.

"And the food is for him? Or for you?"

"Neither," Danica explained. "Dwight's birthday is coming up and Angela set up this organic vegetable theme. So I volunteered to make a carrot cake."

"Oh, how lovely," Tanya exclaimed. "Don't they make a weird couple? Of course, you probably aren't supposed to know . . ."

"I knew. The two have completely different smells and they have each other's smells all over them. As it is, she's giving Pam all the 'special' assignments." Danica washed up in the sink. "Would you like to help?"

"Sure," Tanya said. "But you do all the taste testing."

Tanya followed Danica's example by tying back her hair and washing her hands. "Guess where I was earlier."

"Where?"

Tanya named the restaurant. The eggs Danica was holding cracked prematurely.

"Where Kelly and Ryan were having their double-date?"

"Relax. I wasn't anywhere near them. I even ordered the stuffed peppers. By the way, that's what's in the package I brought."

"I better put them in the fridge." Danica wiped the yolk off her hands and moved the cardboard container to a bare shelf. She forgot that, except for Esme, vampires generally did not know how to handle food safely. "So what were you doing there?"

"I wanted to see the show. I might even be in it. And, well, I needed something to do. Kate spends all her time with Garrett, and Eleazar and Carmen are in England, and I didn't want to be alone."

Danica nodded. "I see." She pointed out, "You have flour on your cheek." Tanya flicked the powdery substance off her face.

"You can stay here as long as you like, Tanya. But I can't give you an official tour of the office or anything. Though I suppose it couldn't hurt if you bump into them once in a while."

Tanya's mouth lifted. "I have to meet Ryan and Kelly, of course."

"That should be fine. They know I have cousins running through here to check up on me."

"Right, Alec and Jane. At least, you and Alec seem to get along."

Danica ignored the angry tone in Tanya's voice. Tanya would not forgive Alec, or any of the Volturi, for Irina's execution.

"He's all right in limited doses," was all she said in his defense.

Jane stormed into the palazzo. Her charge, Thorin, scurried after her.

"Go to your room," she ordered, and he obeyed. Jane strode the rest of the way alone, to the apartment that she and Alec shared.

Alec was polishing his boots when Jane came in. "Fancy catching you here, Brother," she said. "I thought you would be in Pennsylvania again."

"Hello, Sister," Alec returned. "How was the Arctic?"

"Useless." Jane spun to face the stained glass window. "A vampire of my status playing nanny to a fledgling. It is humiliating."

"You are a good teacher," Alec said consolingly. "Thorin has harnessed his talent much more quickly than most vampires." Thorin's talent was to form and dissipate storm clouds, which would come into great use by the Volturi. However, to avoid the humans' observations of his lessons, Jane had to take Thorin to remote destinations.

"It's a servant's chore," Jane insisted, her teeth clenched. "They're punishing us, Brother. Because of the carelessness of that Slav. Since then, Aro has sent us on pitiful errands to keep us away from the palazzo."

"Is that so?"

Jane leveled her red eyes at him. "Neither of us has spent more than a half day in the palazzo. Like we live in exile of our home. But you have not even noticed. That Slav has changed you."

"She has not."

"Then why do you numb your food?"

Alec set down his bottle of polish.

"She's not worth it," Jane stressed. "She'll never be one of us. Aro might see potential in her, but she has no will to become a hunter. You understand the folly of pursuing her as a mate, do you not?"

"I understand perfectly, Sister," Alec mustered to reply. "I shall ask Aro to let up on you. He has no cause to punish you."

"Do not cause further trouble," Jane snapped. "You take the wimp and I'll go to Pennsylvania. I'll tell that Slav to toe the line or she'll have to face the consequences."


	7. Chapter 7

Tanya accompanied Danica to the office the next day; ostentibly she was helping Danica bring in the cake and the party supplies. Tanya's starstruck fever, however, was dispelled when the first person they encountered was Angela.

"Just set it down on the table. For pity's sake, don't shift around the tablecloth. These napkins are the wrong color. They're too bright. Did you bring the beet juice?"

Kelly waited until Angela left the room to glimpse the cake. "I thought you would at least frost it," she complained.

Danica lifted up a can of frosting from her secret stash. "We're dunking. By the way, this is my cousin Tanya. She helped with the baking."

"Hello." Tanya said shyly.

"That's weird," Kelly said. "You two have the exact same color eyes." Before Tanya could nervously reply, Kelly gabbed on. "Is that hot guy I met your brother?"

"No." Tanya said. "We're a different set."

"Do you have any brothers?"

"No. Two . . . uh, sisters." To transfer the scrutiny off herself, Tanya asked. "What about you? Any brothers?"

"No."

"Oh."

Not exactly the warmest greetings, but at least Danica did not see any disguised, or undisguised, resentment like she had when Kelly met Ryan's friend Mira.

"Angela's heading back," Danica warned. Tanya stood, torn. Wait to meet Ryan or endure another session with Angela. Tanya apparently decided not to press her luck. "I'd better get going," she said. "It's nice to meet you, Kelly." She bade a hasty retreat.

"So that's another of your cousins?" Kelly commented. "How long is she staying?"

"A few weeks," Danica said. "Is it okay if she comes out with us this weekend?" That gave Tanya another chance to meet Ryan.

"I guess." Kelly lined one foot in front of the other. "So how come you didn't tell me about the cousin who died?"

Danica looked up from the arrangement. "I don't know."

"I'm guessing that it was one of Tanya's sisters, am I right?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

Danica was unable to think of a human equivalent to "the Volturi had her executed."

"I think Tanya wants to keep that kind of thing private," she said apologetically.

"Right," Kelly pouted. "Because your family keeps these things private."

"Well you didn't tell me about Maggie," Danica pointed out.

Kelly's mouth dropped open. Then she charged out of the room, nearly trampling over Angela on the way.

Angela dodged Kelly's blind dash. She looked over at Danica. "What happened?"

"I think I hurt her feelings," Danica said vaguely. "I'll be right back."

Angela absently waved her away, as if she could not be bothered with Kelly's drama.

Danica chased after Kelly just enough to ascertain that her friend was safe (so there was no repeat of the Casino Night disaster.) After finding Kelly sobbing in the women's bathroom, Danica lingered within hearing distance in the breakroom

Ryan entered. "Is Kelly okay?" he asked, more agitated than the situation warranted.

Danica pointed to the bathroom.

Ryan plunked down at the table. She was just crying. Ryan did not know why he got so worked up about Kelly crying. Except that when that happened at Casino Night . . .

(did they have a fight?)

But Kelly was clearly in no danger from muggers here in the office. The sudden panic that had seized Ryan vanished.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I think I hurt her feelings," Danica echoed.

If Kelly had confessed the same about Danica, Ryan would have expected it. Kelly always shot her mouth off before thinking of the ramifications. Danica, however, was usually careful when speaking, except during her rare flashes of temper.

"How bad was it?" Ryan asked neutrally.

"I'm not sure." Danica knew nothing about Kelly's relationship with her deceased sibling, but that the mere mention of Maggie's name had transformed Kelly into a bawling wreck boded terribly about this situation.

Ryan stood and crossed to her. He positioned his arm over her shoulder. "Whatever it is," he said, "I'm sure Kelly will bounce back. Then you can hash out your apologies and it'll be over. That's how it's done, right?"

"Something like that," Danica said. The first step to their reconciliation loomed up. And Ryan's thundering heartbeat was distracting her. He smelled so delicious.

Danica's skin was cold through her shirt. Ryan traced his finger along a bare part of her neck. Her skin was so smooth, like marble . . . so still.

Ryan snatched his hand away. This was a dream? In the past, despite their vividness, he had always at least known when he was dreaming.

Just in case, he backed up. "Um, are you going in?"

Danica nodded. "Yes," she whispered, trying to fortify herself for the big apology. "Right now."

"Good luck," Ryan stuttered as she pushed into the bathroom.

Kelly's sobs had ebbed. Danica knocked on the stall door anyway.

"I don't want to talk to you," she said, petulant.

"I'm sorry, Kelly. Obviously I had no right to bring up your family's business."

"How did you even find out anyway? Were you snooping?"

"Laura told me."

"You don't get it," Kelly insisted. "You think that because your parents and your cousin died that it's the same but it's not."

"Of course it's not the same," Danica agreed. "If you want to talk about it . . ."

"Well, I'm not going to talk about it."

"That's up to you," Danica offered. "Would you like me to stay here or do you want to be alone?"

"I want to be alone."

"All right. The usual excuse?" The usual excuse, for Michael, was to mention women's troubles. Michael would then be too busy squealing ("Ew, ew, ew. TMI!") to interrogate further.

Sniff. "Whatever."

"All right. I'll save some cake for you."

Jane traversed the same parking lot her brother habitually took and rapped lightly on Gita's door. The rapping belied the rage that roiled within her, but it would be unseemly for a member of the Volturi to pound her fist like some brutish Gestapo officer. Besides, she wanted to take the younger vampire by surprise.

Gita was satisfactorily surprised when she opened the door, her round eyes widening when she saw Jane. Just in time, she remembered to kneel. "Signorina," she murmured. "Is Signore Alec coming?"

Jane punished her for her insolent question. Gita yelped and huddled on the floor of her trailer in pain. Jane let her huddle there, whimpering away, for a couple of minutes until she released her.

"You will not speak except to answer me," Jane ordered. "Signore Alec's business is not of your concern. I am here to conduct the business for today. Do you understand?"

Gita nodded timidly.

Jane entered the trailer without invitation. She approached the television monitors. "I want to see all of the material for this week," Jane said.

Gita parted her lips, to protest or warn, but a twinge followed Jane's stare and she retreated her comment. Instead, she fiddled with the controls and started up with the footage on the first camera.

Jane glared down at the numerous unlabeled buttons then turned to the screen. She watched as the humans dabbled with their insignificant work, tittered about blind dates, and plotted a preposterous birthday party for one of their oafish employees.

So this is how the Slav chooses to spend her day, Jane thought as she scrutinized the tape. She felt the human urge to gag when Danica offered to make a cake for the oaf's birthday party. The Cullens' influence, no doubt.

One thing that did catch her notice was how human Danica behaved. She twitched, she fidgeted, she breathed. Jane had assumed that Alec was exaggerating the Slav's acting ability; if anything, he was understating it. A flicker of something - envy, admiration - passed through her, but she dismissed it. As a vampire, the Slav was an infant; of course, she could act a part she played a little more than ten years ago.

Gita switched cameras and the blind date reenacted between four of the humans. Jane's suspicions heightened.

"What is the dark-haired boy looking at?" she asked.

"I do not know, Signorina," Gita babbled. "I was not at the scene when this was filmed."

"He looks nervous. Why is he nervous?"

"I do not know." Gita suggested, "I shall cut that part?"

"Do it." Jane watched carefully as Gita rewound the scene and erased it. Now she knew how Gita did it, so if Gita tried it without her permission, Jane could punish her.

The screens continued the play their inanity. The Denali girl appeared briefly. She had exhibited none of the human characteristics Danica did, but her presence was so brief and insignificant that not a single human noticed.

Then Danica and her human friend quibbled over the deaths of the Denali sister and of Kelly's sister, the latter of which sent the human racing out of the room bawling. Jane's lip curled up, intrigued by this revelation. Interesting. She had discovered one of the human's weaknesses. And a weakness of one of these humans was a weakness for the Slav.

Gita's eyes roved nervously to Jane. "Do you have intelligence on this scene?" Jane snapped at her. Gita shook her head, bowing. Jane pivoted back to face the screen.

Alec should have hired a more observant editor.

Then came the compromising footage. Danica and the dark-haired boy embracing in the breakroom.

"I am taking this tape," Jane announced.

"I will make a copy," Gita assented.

Jane's control left her as the scene paused on Danica with that human. Did Alec know he was being cuckolded? He must not, because he would never allow it if he knew.

Well, Jane would show him. Then they could put an end to this nonsense over the show and return to their real duties.

Gita ejected a tape from under the console and handed it to Jane. Jane pocketed it from within her robe. "I will come back shortly," she informed the girl, keeping the expected time of her next visit vague.

But when Jane exited the parking lot, she had the idea that there was something else on the tape that had glaring importance. She could not recall what it was.

"To birthdays." Tanya raised her empty hand as a toast.

"To birthdays," Danica echoed. She pressed Send.

Danica was emailing a video clip of Dwight's surprise party to Jim in Stamford. The surprise aspect had been Pam's idea, and Angela, through some lapse of judgment, allowed it. So when Dwight entered the room, all the party-goers were treated to a hilarious demonstration of jujitsu as Dwight chopped and kicked the air around him.

As for Kelly, she emerged from the bathroom, but she had not fully recovered from her crying jag. Danica noticed that her coworker kept out of the main action during the party and then lethargically attended to her work. She avoided talking to Danica at all.

"Here's Jim's office," Danica said, opening another email displaying a panorama of the wide-paned glass wall overlooking the ocean.

"It's nice," Tanya agreed.

"Yeah. Not an option for me, of course."

Tanya slid down onto the couch. "So does that mean Alice was wrong? About Jim and Pam getting together?"

"I don't think so," Danica thought out loud. "Jim had already decided to move to Stamford before I visited Forks. That didn't seem to alter her prediction."

"So they might cross paths again," Tanya concluded. "Interesting."

A knock sounded. Danica and Tanya's glances drifted to the door.

"Does Alec knock?" Tanya asked, a trace of alarm pitching into her voice.

"No." Danica pushed down her own frisson of alarm that had jumped up her spine. "It must be a neighbor."

She rounded to the door and tugged it open, to reveal Ryan standing in the dimly lit hallway.

"Hi," she said,

"Hi." He peered in past her. "Oh, you have company . . ." Then he hicccuped in surprise when he recognized Tanya. "Hi."

"Um, do you want to come in?" Danica offered.

Ryan hesitated. "Sure," he answered, after he convinced himself that his shot of deja vu did not mean he had stumbled upon some demonic lair. He shuffled in.

The predatory woman jumped up to allow him room to sit, but Ryan lingered by the entrance.

Danica made the perfunctory introductions. "Ryan, this is my cousin Tanya. Tanya, my coworker Ryan."

"Nice to meet you," Tanya said in a melodious voice like Danica's.

"Likewise," Ryan replied. Tanya had put her hand forward, but Ryan made no attempt to approach her, so she let it drop to her skirt pocket.

"Didn't I see you at Strat's?" he blurted.

"I was there yesterday." Tanya admitted, putting effort in her amazement. "How weird." When Ryan did not answer, Tanya quickly excused herself. "I'll, um, go for a walk."

She glided past Ryan.

Danica resettled on the couch.

"Sorry if I interrupted something," Ryan said, once Tanya closed the door behind him.

"You didn't," Danica said. "We were just gabbing. Would you like a seat?"

Ryan moved closer to the couch and sat at the far end.

"I was wondering what went on between you and Kelly," he told her. "I didn't bring it up at work, in case it was private. But she's acting weird. Quiet. Not like her at all."

"I noticed." Danica cast her gaze downward.

"She won't tell me about it," Ryan added. He lowered to his elbows on the couch's back. "If something happened . . . maybe if she found out about . . . the other date."

After a few seconds elapsed, Danica reassured him, "It's not about . . . that. And I'm not really in a place to reveal more. It's about Kelly's personal past, and it's up to her if she wants to tell you."

"Kelly's personal past," Ryan echoed, thinking it had to be an oxymoron. As far as he knew, Kelly kept none of her past personal. She had broadcast her entire romantic history down to her grade school crushes and her embarrassing dating scenarios. But then she lied about some of them. "What the hell could be so horrible that she wouldn't tell me about it?"

"It's not that serious," Danica said. "At least, not as far as you two are concerned. She'll tell you when she's ready."

In other words, Ryan got no answers. But did he really think he was going to pry this out of Danica? Danica who was apparently designated the president of the Everybody Keeping Secrets From Ryan Club?

"Have you talked to her since the party?" he asked instead.

"No." Danica sighed. "She's been giving me the silent treatment all day."

"She did have some of your cake. Great cake, by the way."

He had told her that at the party, whispering it clandestinely before he glued himself back to Kelly's side. His lips had brushed close to her ear this time too. His warm breath had tickled against her ear.

The couch seemed too weak a barrier between them.

She turned her head away, willing herself not to look at his face.

Another voice entered into the living room. "Isn't this cosy?"


	8. Chapter 8

Jane sneaked in through the bedroom. Her red eyes blazed in controlled anger.

Ryan jumped back.

_The man in the dreams had those same eyes._

"Do you know what they did to cuckolds in the Middle Ages, Danica?" Jane queried.

"Oh, hello, Jane." Danica sidled closer to Ryan. Almost as if she was trying to shield him from Jane.

The girl was too small, too young to present a challenge. Her little-girl blonde hair wound around in buns and her robe appeared ridiculously oversized. Her voice came out like a shy whisper.

He wondered if Angela Martin had ever had a child, because this is how he imagined the evil spawn would turn out.

"I was just leaving. Danica, you'd better see what's keeping Tanya," Ryan hinted.

Not that he was afraid of her, or anything so ridiculous. No, he just did not want to make an idiot of himself.

Nonetheless, because of the red eyes, Ryan made no move to exit the room, to leave Danica with this strange child.

"I would just like you to know that your little stint at Dunder-Mifflin will soon come to an end," Jane growled. "once Alec finds out what your real interest is."

Ryan edged her to the door, so Danica took the opportunity to end Jane's visit.

"It's nice of you to stop by, Jane," Danica purposely used her name, to lessen Jane's menacing aura. She whipped open the door. Ryan needed no prodding in exiting the apartment.

She and Ryan walked to the stairs.

"I take it she's another one of your cousins." Ryan was conscious of his voice echoing down the corridor.

"Yes. Alec is her brother."

Ryan struggled to figure out the relationship between Danica and Alec and Jane, but the red eyes crowded every intelligible thought out of his mind.

The awkward lull lasted a minute or two before Ryan recalled why he had come to Danica's place. "About Kelly . . ."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," Danica said.

"Okay."

The problems were swiftly settled the next day. Kelly spoke to Danica again, grudgingly at first. When she figured out that Danica was not going to force the subject of her sister on her again, Kelly's reception became warmer. It was clear Danica did not spread around the news about Maggie to anyone, and soon Kelly was back to normal.

When Tanya tagged along with them to the Fun Zone that weekend, Kelly had put the incident well behind her. She offered her condolences to Tanya about Irina's death ("You must feel very sad.") without sharing how well Kelly understood how Tanya might feel. As Tanya had not been told about Kelly's sister, she chalked it up to a well meaning but shallow statement made by a clueless human girl, and Danica did nothing to correct that impression.

Even Michael's Grief Counseling session did not resurrect Kelly's emotional reaction. Michael's former boss died in a car accident, and while Michael was grieving, no one else was particularly overcome with sadness. Danica had never even met the man. Nonetheless, Michael summoned them for a conference to cure them from their "denial."

"I'm going to throw you this ball," Michael instructed, " When you catch this ball, I want you to say the name of a person very important to you - somebody very special - who died. And you may cry, if you like. It is encouraged. Let me show you how it works." He then let out a long, anguished lamentation about how Ed Truck's death affected him.

He flung the ball towards Phyllis but Dwight slipped his hand in. "I got it," he announced, triumphant.

"When my mother was pregnant with me, they did an ultrasound and found out she was having twins. When they did another ultrasound, a few weeks later, they discovered that I had resorbed the other fetus. Do I regret this? No. I believe his tissues made me stronger. I now have the strength of a grown man and a baby."

He tossed the ball back to Michael, who sent it to Stanley. Stanley only tossed it back.

"Kelly," Michael chose, giving up on Stanley. He tossed it towards Kelly. Kelly wriggled down in her seat. Danica smoothly caught the toy. "I'll go," she volunteered.

At first, she just thought about preventing the ball from reaching Kelly. Once it smacked against her hand, she realized she would have to say something.

"I'm sure most of you have heard this before," she said. "But when I was fifteen, my parents died in a fire. Nedo and Elisa Simovic." She hesitated, not sure of what to say after that.

Michael said helpfully, "Because they don't have firetrucks in Alaska."

"Right," she said with a mask of sobriety. "There's no carbon dioxide either."

"Really." Michael replied, astonished.

Pam volunteered. She told them about her aunt, who died in a manner suspiciously like Hilary Swank's character in _Million Dollar Baby_. Everyone caught on but Michael, who asked, "Would you like to cry?"

Pam shook her head. The rest of the group, however, sat up straighter, taking notice of the new rules of the game.

Ryan raised his hand. Pam lobbed the ball to him

"Um, a few years ago, my family was on safari in Africa" Ryan began. "And my cousin . . . Mufasa . . . was trampled to death by a pack of wildebeasts. And, um, we all took it really hard . . . all of us kind of in the audience . . . of what happened." He stole a glance at Danica. She pressed a fist to her mouth, shielding her smile. Next to her, Kelly instantly cheered up. She grinned more broadly and winked at him.

Luckily, Michael's attention was riveted to Ryan.

"Do you want to talk about it any more?" he whispered.

"Oh, it would probably take an hour and a half to tell that whole story," Ryan said.

Kevin bleated for his turn, and Ryan tossed the ball to him.

"Yes." Kevin exclaimed. "Okay, I was trying to throw this party once and everyone was over for the weekend." He put a heavy stress on the word "weekend." "And then my uncle Bernie died. And so me and my best friend, we had to pretend like he was alive . . ."

Danica did not recognize the movie, but everyone else seemed to. Ryan shook his head at Kevin's poor delivery. And Michael interrupted, wagging his finger as he placed the scene. "Wait a second. That's _Weekend at Bernie's_. Do you think this is a game?"

"Well, there is a ball," Phyllis interjected.

"We're starting over," Michael declared, but everyone else stood and shuffled over to the door. "We have a lot of work to do," Angela told him.

Michael blocked the exit. He insisted on continuing, his pleas growing more desperate. "Ed Truck was my former boss. He sat at my desk. And he died. And he was alone when he died. And nobody cares."

The only person who stopped to listen was Toby. "Michael, look. I know this is hard for you. But death's just a part of life. I mean, just this morning, I saw a little bird flying into the glass doors downstairs and die-"

Michael raised his head, confronting Toby. "How do you know the bird was dead?"

Kelly squeezed her way to Ryan. His arm wrapped around her as a sense of deja vu engulfed him.

"Did you check its breathing? Was its heart beating?"

"It was obvious," Toby argued weakly.

"Of course not! You're not a veterinarian! You don't know anything!"

Michael raced out of the room.

Ten minutes later, Michael was desperately trying to revive the bird by pouring liquid over its beak, even though Angela declared it was dead.

"It's not dead," Michael insisted.

Kelly peered closely at the bird. "Yeah, it's dead," she said, her face folding in disgust.

Danica started at the sight. "Is that my cranberry water?" she said.

"Your magic elixir is going to cure him."

Danica snatched the bottle away. There was nothing left in that bottle, or the other bottles Michael used up in drowning the bird's corpse. That was her supply for the rest of the week.

Could she get away long enough to hunt this afternoon?

Danica gathered up her bottles and stashed them in her backpack. Ryan and Kelly's voices wafted out from the annex.

"Look if you want to go somewhere tonight, then we'll go somewhere."

"That's not the point. You always forget. Obviously our dates are not as important to you as they are to me."

"I don't always forget. This is the first time I've forgotten in a month."

"What about the time you promised to get me breakfast in bed and then you had another one of your bad dreams?"

"I didn't forget."

"No but you woke me up, and that spoiled the surprise."

"How would it be a surprise if you were expecting it the whole time . . ."

Eventually Michael accepted that the bird had died, and he scheduled a funeral. While he and Dwight searched for a place for the remains, Kelly holed up in the annex and cried because Ryan was being a jerk.

Ryan came in with a bakery box. "Hey."

"What do you want?" Kelly sulked.

"I came to ask you to breakfast tonight." He opened the box to reveal a couple of cinnamon rolls.

"You can't have breakfast at night."

"Sure we can."

The cinnamon rolls blended with Ryan's delicious aroma, igniting Danica's thirst. She held her breath.

_Milo in the rubble, his bare ribs sticking out of his skin. Anja's upper torso severed from her charred legs. Anja's hand, fingerless. Mama's face melted, her jaw lying on the burned wall._

Kelly was softening. "If you think a couple of pastries are going to win me over . . ."

She did not finish, as Ryan plied her lips shut with a kiss.

_Mr. Ruzic dangling from the ceiling fan, urine soaking his pants. A bare leg sticking out of the rubble that used to be her home. Milo's flayed ribs quivering one last breath . . ._

Danica could not stand it another second. She swept out of the room.

Ryan almost had not noticed Danica had left. He had been so enrapt in Kelly he had not even seen her leave.

"So tonight?" he confirmed with Kelly.

"All right," Kelly answered. "Tonight." Her hand ran down and pinched at his butt.

"Later," he told her, hinting at "when we're alone." Kelly loosened her arms from around him and he sauntered back to the office.

Danica was not in the main office. On a hunch, Ryan headed towards the stairwell. He cracked open the door, only to be met with utter darkness.

"Danica," he whispered loudly.

"Don't come down here."

Danica thrust the exanguinated squirrel in a plastic bag. A squirrel was as large as anything she would find in this car park, unless she wanted to eat a stray dog. And she always stayed away from dogs and cats, in case they were someone's lost pets.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, clueless.

"Yes." Then more smoothly, Danica said, "Just check the doorstop. I don't want to be locked out."

Ryan checked. A sliver of wood straddled the doorjamb. Ryan shifted away from it, so he would not accidentally kick it away.

Danica jogged up the stairs and emerged from the darkness.

"What were you doing down there?"

"Giving you and Kelly privacy?"

That infusion of blood, though small, helped her regain her control, even when she stood close to Ryan and whiffed his intoxicating scent. The cinnamon smell from the bakery box clung to him, but Danica resisted him. She ceased her breathing, and circled her shoulders slightly so she appeared to breathe like a human.

"Oh." Ryan thought Danica had seemed more . . . troubled upon her exit. Her face, at the moment, showed no distress. "Well, we made up."

"Okay."

"You've got something on your face," Ryan commented. A small spot marked her lower lip. It transferred to his index finger as he brushed it off.

Danica wiped the heel of her hand aggressively against her mouth, doubting that Ryan removed all of the squirrel blood. She dared not part her lips to speak. She knew if she did, her mouth would fill with his aroma and she would be lost to his scent.

She turned away and stalked back to the office.

Ryan followed after her. He pulled a tissue from the reception desk and wiped off the substance that stained his finger. It was dark and thick, like chocolate, but it smelled different. Ryan hovered it over the wastebasket, but then, on second thought, he wadded it into a tight ball and slipped it into his pants pocket.

Michael held the funeral in the building's shade, so Danica braved the outdoors. She pulled her jacket hood over her head and faced away from the setting sun, placing herself in the back of the group.

Ryan and Kelly stood arm in arm towards the front. Danica's view was blocked but then there was nothing about this funeral she needed to see. She listened to Pam's eulogy - heartfelt and soothing to Michael - about how just because the bird died alone, it did not mean he was alone. In Danica's opinion, though, it didn't matter who was in the room with you when you died, because death divided you from the others. Thousands of vampires witnessed Irina's death, but, in the actual act of dying, she was alone.

Kelly fitted her head against Ryan's neck. As Dwight's music wound down, and Michael let go of his grief, she raised her head and planted a kiss on Ryan's cheek.

The sun had finally set and Danica gathered her purse and her tote bag full of empty water bottles and headed to her car. She called an absentminded goodbye to Dwight, who always stuck around the office to water the plants and rearrange Michael's desk, and crossed into the parking lot.

She spotted Gita standing at the ashen circle on the pavement that held the bird's coffin during the funeral.

"It must have been beautiful," Gita said, viewing the scene from cinematographic perspective. "The funeral."

"It was special," was all Danica would offer, because seeing a burned body, even in the context of Dwight's emulating a Viking funeral, would never be beautiful to her.

Danica ducked into her car. She did not want to enter into an interrogation or an argument. She started the motor, flared the lights, and crept the car around Gita as she pulled out of the parking lot.


End file.
